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Textile

Skirt and Coat Set

Silk satin (exterior); cotton (interior)

Silk satin (outer); cotton (inner)

Inventory sheet

This set of skirt and jacket, probably winter wear, in green silk, is entirely decorated with geometric and vegetal motifs in relief. The outer fabric was stitched to the inner, with the subsequent filling providing a beautiful quilted effect.

The jacket is cut at the waist, from which hangs a large flap, overlapping the skirt to below the hip. This flap is longer and more rounded at the back.

Hooks close it at the front and the neckline is finished by small green silk ribbons flowing from white lace. The sleeve is double folded, covering the elbow.

The skirt, with a straight cut, is gathered at the waist to loosely cover the inner frame which formed the pannier, typical of 18th century fashion.

There are some models with quilted features, but this one is rare in being entirely so. This characteristic and the decorative motifs remind us of the bedspreads produced in India, which Portugal traded and exported during the 16th and following centuries. However, we cannot assume its Indian origin: similar examples in foreign museums are classified as English.